How to check your Claude Code usage
Claude Code meters your subscription on rolling windows, so hitting the limit in the middle of a task is a common surprise. Here's how to see how much you've used — and the fastest way to keep it in front of you so it never catches you off guard.
What counts toward your Claude Code limit
On the Pro and Max plans, Claude Code meters usage on a rolling 5-hour window, with additional weekly caps. Every message you send and every tool the agent runs counts toward the current window. As you get close, Claude Code shows a warning in the terminal; once you hit the cap, it pauses until the window resets. The catch is that the warning arrives late — by the time you see it, you're already at the edge.
Three ways to check your usage
Run /usage in Claude Code
Type /usage in any session to open the built-in
usage panel: how much of your current 5-hour window and your
weekly limit you've used, each with its reset time
(/cost and /stats are aliases, and
/status shows your account and plan). It's the
official answer — but it's a snapshot you have to ask for, inside
one session; the moment you're back to work, it's gone.
Check your provider account
Your Anthropic account page shows plan-level activity. It's a few clicks away in the browser and isn't real-time, so it's better for a monthly review than for "can I start one more big task right now?"
Use a notch or menu-bar monitor
A lightweight Mac app that reads your session can surface the current window, the percentage used, and the reset countdown — always visible, no command to run. This is the only option that answers the question before you hit the wall.
The effortless way: your usage in the notch
Vibe Island puts your live Claude Code usage into your Mac's notch — the percentage of your limit consumed and the time until the window resets, sitting quietly at the top of your screen. No command, no dashboard, no API key: it reads the same login you already use to run Claude Code. When you're deep in a session and wondering whether you can kick off one more big task, the answer is already there.
How the 5-hour window and weekly limits work
Key detail
The 5-hour window is a rolling one: it resets five hours after your first message in the window, not on a fixed clock.
On top of the rolling window, Pro and Max plans have weekly caps that refill on their own schedule. Because two limits run at once, the useful number is "which one is closest, and when does it reset" — which is exactly what a live countdown in the notch tells you. Read more on the usage tracking page.
What to do when you hit the limit
Hitting the cap doesn't have to end your working session. Your options, roughly in order of effort:
Wait for the reset. The 5-hour window rolls, so the wait is often shorter than you'd fear. If you can see the countdown, you know immediately whether it's a coffee break or an afternoon off.
Switch to a smaller model. Heavier models consume your window much faster. Dropping to a lighter model for routine edits and reviews stretches the same limit considerably.
Route the work to another agent. If you also run Codex, Gemini CLI, or another agent, their limits are separate budgets. This is where monitoring every agent in one place pays off — you can see which one has headroom before you switch.
Upgrade the plan. If you hit the wall daily, the higher subscription tiers raise both the 5-hour and weekly caps.
The common thread: every one of these decisions is easy when you see the limit coming, and stressful when you discover it mid-task.
Common questions
How do I see how much Claude Code usage I have left?
Type /usage inside Claude Code for a snapshot of your 5-hour window and weekly limit. For a version you don't have to ask for, use a menu-bar or notch monitor that reads your session — Vibe Island shows the percentage used and the time until your window resets, always visible at the top of your screen.
What is the Claude Code 5-hour limit?
Claude Code subscriptions (Pro and Max) meter usage on a rolling 5-hour window, on top of weekly caps. Every message and tool call counts toward the window. When you hit the limit, Claude Code pauses until the window resets — the countdown is what tells you whether to wait or switch to another provider.
Does checking my usage require an API key?
No. Your Claude Code usage is tied to the subscription you already log into. A notch monitor like Vibe Island reads your existing CLI session directly — no API key, no extra account, no separate dashboard to open.
Can I check Codex and other agents the same way?
Yes. The same notch panel shows usage for Codex, Kimi, GLM, and DeepSeek alongside Claude Code, each with its own window and reset. See the full picture on the usage tracking page.
Check every agent's usage in one place
Claude Code is rarely the only agent you run. Vibe Island tracks usage for Codex CLI, ZCode, Gemini CLI, Antigravity CLI, Cursor Agent, Trae, OpenCode, MiMoCode, Factory Droid, Qoder, Qwen, Grok Build, Kimi Code, DeepSeek, Mistral Vibe, Copilot, CodeBuddy, WorkBuddy, Kiro, Hermes, Amp, Pi Agent, Oh My Pi, and Gajae Code. all in the same notch panel — and it's the AI coding session monitor for every one of them, not just usage. See the full usage breakdown or start with Claude Code monitoring.
Vibe Island · macOS 14+
See your Claude Code usage from your Mac notch
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